Sir Ian Blair 'went off piste over Menezes shooting'

Former Commissioner Sir Ian Blair lost the support of senior officers and went "off-piste" during a press conference on the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, according to Mr Hayman.

Describing how Sir Ian approached the issue of the Stockwell Tube death, Mr Hayman said: "I nearly fell off my chair when he started addressing the shooting: 'The information I have available is that this shooting is directly linked to the ongoing and expanding anti-terrorist operation. Any death is deeply regrettable. I understand the man was challenged and refused to obey.' This was news to me."

Mr Hayman said Sir Ian's time in the post started well but after a while he became distant and aloof. He said: "We all wanted him to succeed, but I believe that he became so isolated from some in his top team that he did not seem to notice he risked making dangerous enemies." He describes Sir Ian's departure as "dreadfully sad", but adds: "He earned the reputation of being gaffe-prone, and by the end he didn't have a hope in hell of shaking it off."

Mr Hayman said Sir Ian set out to streamline budgets but his strategy was derailed by the 7/7 bombings. He also warned about the increasing politicisation of policing. "On Ian's watch, as he pushed through his ward-based policing plan, politicians became increasingly involved in deciding how London was policed."